Page 50 of Burn It Down

“What do you do while you’re there? Can you sleep?”

“Nah. The twenty-four-hour guys can, but us short-shift guys try to clean up the station, stock the fridge with a meal or two, prep the gear, that kind of thing. If we get it all done, we’ll play cards or something.”

“How often do you get called to a fire?”

His deep chuckle over the phone sets me at ease. “Rarely. More often than not, we get called because someone has fallen and broken a hip or something.”

“Isn’t that what EMS does?” I ask, confused about the roles here.

“Sort of, but they provide the life saving measures and we provide the heavy lifting. Every time EMS deploys, so do we because we’re all trained as paramedics as well and it’s important to have enough staff on site for the emergency.”

“Holy shit. That’s hot. Is there anything youdon’tdo, Jake?”

“Hmm. I don’t fish.”

“Noted,” I chuckle. “What are you wearing?” My need to see him grows stronger with each passing second.

“Gym shorts and a t-shirt.”

“Is it weird that I’m jealous of the guys in the station who can openly stare at you right now?”

“No. Is it weird that turns me on?” he asks back, chewing on something crunchy.

“No,” I exhale and hear him groan before dropping his voice to a whisper.

“Fuck, that sound turns me on even more. I’m getting hard in my shorts. If I walk around the station with a hard-on, these guys will never let me live it down.”

“Especially because you might poke someone’s eye out with that thing.”

“Not helping.” He laughs harder. “When can I see you again? Tell me I don’t have to wait until the concert.”

I don’t want to be the reason he breaks Cora’s heart, but I also can’t leave him to live a lie. I can’t walk away from him, knowing he’s miserable. Knowing I can provide relief. I understand the situation isn’t fair to Cora, but it isn’t fair to Jake, or to me, either.

“I’m slammed at the shop this coming week, but maybe I can get away for a couple hours for dinner?” I offer.

“I either have meetings or I have to be at the fire station every night this week,” he laments before coming back with a terrible idea. “Cora’s got a big event coming up at the club.” He pauses before committing to the next question. “Why don’t you come with me?”

“What? Jake, no way that’s a good idea.”

“You have a better one? Cor won’t mind. She’ll be so busy I’ll end up spending the evening by myself anyway.”

I hesitate even though I already know I’m going to cave. I’m not great at protecting myself when it comes to relationships and truthfully, I’m desperate to see Jake again.

“I’ll run it by her just to make sure,” he says, still trying to convince me.

“You’ll run the idea of bringing a date to your girlfriend’s eventtoyour girlfriend?” Unable to stop myself, I walk into the bathroom and close the door. I’m the only one at the shop right now and we’re closed so I don’t expect anyone to come in, but I don’t want to risk my family turning on the cameras and finding me jacking off in the office, either.

The sound of Jake’s voice is working me over as if his hands were on me.

“Yeah. I mean obviously she knows we’re friends.”

A ball of tension lodges itself in the pit of my stomach and I sit on the lid of the toilet, planting my elbows on my knees.

“Jake, I don’t have it in me to fuck around behind her back. Just because I’m a guy doesn’t mean it isn’t cheating.”

“Damn it, Dylan,” he growls, making my dick twitch. “I know that, but I’m going fucking crazy. It’s only been twenty-four hours and I’m crawling out of my skin with the need to touch you again.”

I stand, my hand flying to the zipper on my coveralls, letting them drop onto the floor, before my pants follow suit and I fist my cock.

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